Walkers one step closer to enjoying England coast path

People in Yorkshire are one step closer to being able to walk around the entire England coastline as Natural England today announce that work has started on every stretch of the England Coast Path.

The England Coast Path is an inspirational project to create the world’s longest continuous coastal trail.

Walkers enjoying the route.

There are three stretches included in the project that run through Yorkshire.

Work is complete on a stretch running from Filey Brigg to Newport Bridge in Teesside and the path is now open for all to enjoy.

Ramblers’ volunteers are working with Natural England to discuss the best route that the England Coast Path should take for the following stretches:

• Humber Bridge to Kilnsea, Easington

• Kilnsea to Filey Brigg.

Ramblers’ director of advocacy and engagement, Nicky Philpott, said: “This is a huge milestone in the story of the England Coast Path and one we should celebrate.

“Building sandcastles on the beach, dipping toes in the sea and taking a stroll along clifftops are favourite activities that cross generations and bring us all together.

“So it might surprise you that until recently, a third of England’s coastline was inaccessible. The Ramblers has long dreamed of a country where everyone can freely enjoy our beautiful coast, so we were pleased that after years of campaigning, in 2010, work started on the England Coast Path.”

At almost 3,000 miles long, the path will stretch around the entire English coastline.

Not only will this open up new paths, it will create new areas of open access land so people can freely explore headlands, cliffs and beaches, right up to the water’s edge.

Natural England has been working with landowners, local authorities and others to open up stretches of the path and Ramblers’ volunteers have worked tirelessly to walk and survey swathes of coast, mapping out the best route for walkers.

Nicky added: “We’d like to thank our wonderful volunteers who have spent hours exploring possible routes for the path. Using their local knowledge and thinking with their feet they are helping to ensure that the England Coast Path is not just a path, but one of the most incredible walking trails in the world.”

The Government hope to complete the England Coast Path by 2020, and the Ramblers is keen to ensure that plans are put in place to maintain the path once it’s complete and has become a National Trail.

Tom Halstead, Ramblers coastal access volunteer for East Yorkshire and Derwent said: “The provision of rollback will make a great difference to the stretch of coastline north of Kilnsea through Holderness to Bridlington, which is among the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe. People will be able to walk that part of the coast with certainty, whereas the lack of a definitive path and erosion has deterred a lot of people in the past.”